Living In The Moment
by XxXsyderzXxX
Summary: Aang arrives at the Southern Air Temple unwillingly. Can his new friend Ari show him that he shouldn't dwell in the past? Set as if Aang hadn't run away.


_At least they let me bring Appa,_ I thought, riding in the saddle of my bison. They had actually done it. They were actually taking me to the Eastern Air Temple so I could master Airbending with out Gyasto "interfering", as they put it. I had thought seriously about running away, even prepared a note, but decided it was against my better judgment. I had to leave behind my mentor, Monk Gyatso and all of my friends. They had shunned me any way though.

"Are we there yet?" I asked for the fifth time that day. Whoever was driving me to this place deserved to suffer at least a little.

"NO!" A stern voice came from the front. _Geesh, _I thought.

I had already decided to hate the Eastern Air Temple on sight. Not because I didn't like it there (I had been there quite a few times), because it was separating me from everything I knew and loved.

All of the sudden, as if in a dream, the wind blew the clouds away, revealing the magnificent Temple. It was almost exactly like the Southern Air Temple but the main temple was connected to a peak on either side of the mountain. On the right side, there appeared to be dormitories. The stables and gardens resided on the left. On the main mountain, there were a group of older girls copying an instructor who was teaching them an intermediate airbending move. As I looked around, I also saw a group of girls who looked like they were about my age sitting on a burgundy checked tablecloth, having a picnic in a field just below the gardens.

Our entourage of three bison settled gracefully in the stables. I noticed as we landed, that there was an older looking woman-perhaps the headmistress-standing near a stall. She waited patiently for us to get the bison situated. Finally, we approached her.

"Welcome Avatar," she said politely, "We are very glad to have you here. Now, if you'll excuse me, Arial will give you a tour of the Temple while I speak with your escorts about your sleeping arrangements and such." She walked away and I turned to see a girl who had been standing next to her.

The girl, Arial, looked like she was about my age or a little bit younger. She had two blond braids that hung from either side of her head. She had messy bangs, that fell across her face so that you couldn't see her blue arrow. They parted in just the right places, so you could see her lively blue eyes. She wore a yellow, cap-sleeved, loose shirt that was tucked into a red belt. She had a pleated skirt that was mostly yellow but was red in the pleats. Arial had red knee socks and black shoes.

We walked outside, wordlessly. A few feet away from the stench of the stables, Ari stopped and faced me. "Don't listen to anything she says. My name's Ari, which is _short_ for Arial."

"Okay, Ari. My name is-"

"-Aang, you're the Avatar, and you're from The Southern Air Temple," She interrupted. I guess I must have looked a little freaked out, because next she apologized, saying, "I'm sorry. As soon as we received word that you were coming to stay here, all the girls got their hair done, and their uniforms washed, and all sorts of silly things."

"That's okay...wait, what?" I said. It had taken a minute for what she had said to settle in.

"You heard me," she said smiling, "Most of those girls are kind of weird and boy obsessed. You gotta' cut 'em some slack though. We never get to talk to boys."

Ari was sort of different in a strange, but good way. She was very confident and strong-minded, and dare I say- stubborn. She was opinionated and strong-willed. She didn't appear to care what other people think.

"So, on with the tour!" Ari said. "Those are the stables, of course. Down this way are the gardens and past that there are fields of soft grass. Its really nice to have a picnic in the field this time of year."  
I didn't respond. She smiled. I thought about having picnics with my friends when we were younger. Before I knew that I was the Avatar. Before they shut me out.

"C'mon. I wanted you to meet my friends. They're having a picnic. And don't worry, they're not weird like some of them." Ari started to cartwheel through the tender, spring grass, that was dotted with yellow poppies, revealing red shorts under her skirt. I shrugged and started to roll down the hill.

Before I knew it I was turning around and around at a devastating speed. Once I realized I was on a collision course, I tried to go the other way but couldn't. I ended up tripping Ari. She landed on the ground with a _thud_.

I staggered to my feet much quicker than necessary and quickly kneeled back down near Ari. To my surprise she was laughing. She sat up slowly, her body shaking from tremors of silent laughter.

"Are you okay?" I asked, a smile spreading across my face, dispite myself.

"I'm fine" She said through extreme giggles. She was back on the ground rolling around, laughing, and holding her stomach. She calmed down gradually and sat up again. "I'm fine," she repeated."

I offered her my hand. She took it and got up. I thought I was seeing things, she sprinted a few yards, hopped, and did a round-off!. She continued doing round-offs. I walked a little faster to keep up.

"Are you out of your mind? You just fell and now you're doing round-offs?" I said audibly.

"Crazy? I wouldn't say crazy. Maybe a little over courageous, but not crazy." She plopped down on the ground as she spoke. I sat with her. " I fell, so what? I'm not going to let that stop me. Even if it had been my fault. Living in fear of making mistakes won't get you anywhere. Neither will regret. The only way to learn or improve in anything is to make mistakes, fix them and try again. You can't think about what's going to happen if you do it wrong or what happened last time. You have to focus on just doing it. It's all about living in the moment." she said, confidently.

I just stared at her in awe. I didn't get how she could be so sure of herself. I didn't understand how she could be so fearless and sensible and she was my age. She had figured something out that most people didn't figure out until they were much older. I was the Avatar. I was supposed to know these things. Not her. "You're right." I said absent-mindedly.

She peered over her shoulder, in the direction of the stables. "Uh-oh, here comes the head mistress. I guess I spent too much time cart-wheeling and not enough time, tour-guiding. Oh well. Meet me at the stables after dinner and I'll finish the tour, okay?"

"Okay, see ya then." I waved as she ran towards her friends. To this day I wish I had added, _Thank you, Ari. I think I'll try this "living in the moment" stuff. It could help me. It could help me a lot._ I was starting to like this place all ready...


End file.
